Finding Hinata
by sunshine-n-kisses
Summary: Having had enough with her life as it was, Hinata leaves home to get away from everything. Whether it's running away or just a road trip in disguise, she's stuck with Sasuke who decided it would be nice to just sit in her car.
1. Chapter 1

**Sometimes, I hate my life because of the stress and whatnot. I haven't written in a year so I sat down and just began to write and this garbage came out. I will probably continue it if I continue to get stressed. Don't take this seriously because I'm not going to. This story already doesn't have a good plot. I also don't see it getting any better so. . . get over it. I just wanted to write, you know?**

**Dislcaimer: No way in Hell would I ever own Naruto.**

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I just wanted to get away from everything. My father kept trying to persuade me to go to a certain university as if my own choices didn't matter. My cousin bragged about his great achievments and acted disappointed in me when I told him that I didn't care enough to try to outdo his accomplishments with a few of my own. I don't feel the need to beat him anymore. I'm really very plain. My life is so incredibly complicated without actually having to be complicated. Just saying.

I have a best friend I can tell almost anything to. I have a great parent who only gets on my nerves most of the time, but I'm pretty sure that's normal at my age. I don't have a job to keep up with so not much responsibility. And I have my ups and downs with life. I think my life is pretty much like everyone else's around me. There are slight differences, but not many.

My point is, I'm pretty average.

The past few months had been incredibly dramatic for me, though. I'll get into that kind of detail later. Just know that I had perfectly justifiable reason for doing what I did. It'll all make sense to you eventually. But for right now, I'm just going to begin with saying that I ran away.

I packed all the things I wanted and needed that I owned, like my laptop and a toothbrush among other things, and put them in the back of my car. The openess of the road ahead greeted me, and I got as far as the town next to mine where I went to school.

I needed gas even though I'd only been a runaway for about twenty minutes. I stopped at the gas station down the street from my school building.

"Hello, Hinata," Sai greeted with a huge, obviously false grin.

I offered a small smile and handed him a twenty. "I'm just getting gas."

"Why don't you buy a ticket?" He pointed at the long list of lottery tickets to choose from. He asked me if I won't just buy one every single time I stop at that station. I never buy one.

"You know I never do," my smile became real for a split second.

"Just do it."

I stared at him. He'd said it so simply. Blinking once, then twice, I nodded. "Give me one. One of those." I pointed at the most colorful ticket and handed him the money for it.

"Finally, Hinata." He handed me the ticket, his smile growing.

As I walked out, I put it in my back pocket and he waved. "Bye, Hinata. Thank you."

That's when the part of the story I least understand happens. When I get back to my car, I pump the gas into it and get inside, ready to set off into the unknown world for however long I ended up being gone in whatever place I ended up being in.

There he is. Sitting in the passenger seat of my car. This guy, he sits next to me in every class we have together. Or rather we _did_ sit next to each other in every class we had together when we actually went to school. My runaway spell happened during the period of time between ending school and finally graduating. In the very least, you could say I was shocked to see him sitting there as if he were supposed to be in my car.

"Sasuke?" I said, confusedly.

He gazed over at me, nodding. "Yeah. It's me." Then he looked forward again.

"Why're you in my car?" I settled into my seat and shut my door, still looking at him.

"I feel like leaving town for a while, and I don't exactly have a car." He didn't look at me once.

"_H-how. . ._" My thoughts trailed off as I looked at him then to the back seat where a bag that wasn't mine had been added to the back. He coughed nonchalantly, causing my eyes to revert back to him. I stared at him in silence for around a minute. A horn from someone in their car behind me sounded, making me jump and remember where I was.

Suddenly, it had been decided. I let out the tiniest of sighs before buckling myself and turning the car out onto the road.

"So. . . What kind of music do you like. . ?" I asked, peeking over at him.

It was so awkward having him there like that. He was this semi-attractive boy that all the girls loved but never had. Even my best friend had "loved" him at one point in time. It was enough to make me blush a little when he said, "A little bit of everything."

"Ah. . ." I didn't know what to say next so I just opened my mouth and let the words come out as they pleased. "I like everything, too. . . I like rock music the most probably. All kinds of rock music. I listen to classical when I study, and when I'm feeling down I listen to trance. I'm partial to the blues because my father loves it and it's what I was raised on. I'm kind of. . . yeah." I trail off because he's looking out the window, and I get the feeling nothing I'm saying is getting to him.

I stare forward, hating this awkwardness. It's not exactly his fault; I'm just an awkward person. _He hasn't made the best choice running away with me_, I think as I pass through the next town.

The town we went to school in is incredibly small. The population of the school we went to was incredibly small. In fact, our graduating class was only a number of twenty four people. I'm ranked third in the class, only beaten by Shikamaru and Sasuke.

Shikamaru was probably somewhere at home doing nothing like always (even when I would come over to hang out), and Sasuke. . .

I snuck a look over at him, sniffing once. I was confused that he was here with me instead of wherever it was he'd usually be, and miffed that he wasn't very talkative.

"So. . ."

"You don't have to force small talk. I like red."

"Huh?" Staring forward, my eyebrows knitted together.

"I like red. Now your turn."

_What's he doing? He's expecting me to tell him something I like? My favorite color, maybe? Oh, I don't know. . . _My thoughts were interrupted by a quiet sigh coming from him. Quickly, I responded, "I like navy. Navy is my favorite color."

He gave a single snort. "Because of your hair?"

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "That's like saying you like red because of your eyes."

Nothing came from him for a short while, and I was sure I had won. Then he asked, "What if I said that _is_ the reason I like red?"

I giggled, looking at him for a second. "Then I'd say you're pretty stupid."

He made another noise that I assumed was a laugh before everything became silent once more.

"What do you think of yellow?" I asked just for the sake of asking. I hated silence, but I'm such a bad driver that I'm sure, with him in there with me, that I'd wreck if I took either of my hands off the wheel to turn the radio on.

". . . I like it." I didn't expect his answer. I hadn't expected an answer at all. "I didn't think much of it before, but recently I've begun to like it. It makes me think of the sun. It's nice."

I could tell he was looking out the window as he spoke. His explanation made me smile. I'd never thought of yellow that way before. I thought of questions that weren't related to colors as I drove us out of the state and into another.

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**Yes, yes. It's crappy..**

**I know this. I wrote it. Thanks for reading this far at least?**


	2. Chapter 2

**The trip continues, I guess..**

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"What's this?"

We'd been on the road for about four hours. I dared a look over at Sasuke who seemed to be a completely different person that what I'd always known him to be. The entire time, I thought, _Why is he in my car? Why didn't I just kick him out? Why isn't this as horrible as I would imagine it would be?_

The thing is, I never, ever thought about this kind of situation. No contact has ever been between Sasuke and I besides the few times we'd spoken during one of our classes. Other than those handful of times, he was a total stranger.

Yet he's in my freaking car looking at my freaking Cds with this look on his face that tells me he doesn't like what he sees in the disc case. I looked back onto the road quickly, not caring. He can hate my Cds if he wants to.

"What do you mean?" I asked it slowly because I was still wondering how I got into this situation.

"Hn, nothing." I hear him close the case and return it to its place below the passenger seat.

_Of course. What else did I expect him to answer me with?_

My stomach rumbled. I could feel his eyes on me instantly. I looked for any kind of sign that there was a stop somewhere down the road we were on, but there was nothing but forest on each side of us.

No signs. No people. Nothing.

Instantly, a thought of crazed hill people and being tied up and tortured flashed through my head. Visibly shuddering, I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"The whites on your knuckles are showing."

I didn't loosen my grip or even glance at him. _There's no way I'm stopping at any place around here. I don't care how hungry I am._

"Loosen your grip before you wreck and kill us both." He said it louder than his last sentence. Then I heard him sigh. "Idiot."

"Shut up." He reminded me of my sister when he'd said that. She always had some smart comment to shoot back at me when I got on her nerves. I blame it on early teenage years making things confusing and probably hard on her. Always telling her to just shut up seems to do the trick when she annoys me, but Sasuke's different. He's not a young teenage girl.

"You can't drive can you?"

_The audacity of this guy._ "Obviously I can."

"You're timid, Hinata. That's why it was easy for me to just get in your car and not be kicked out onto the curb. I expected you to freak out more, but I guess I was off. . . Either way, this timidness makes you a bad driver. I can tell. You get nervous about oncoming traffic, avoid having someone tailgating us by going above the speed limit, and don't think I don't notice how you close your eyes every time we pass by a car. I'm going to hate seeing you drive at night." His response was either previously thought out, or he's just a really great guesser. Either way, it hit the nail on the head.

_That's the most I've ever heard him say. Ever. _I thought for a moment. Then what he said begin to sink in completely. _At night. . ?_ I thought about how bad my driving already was. I thought about how I'd never driven at night before for that very reason. "No."

"Hn?"

"I'm not driving at night." For some reason, my voice was tight.

"So we're stopping."

"No. There is no way I'm stopping anywhere around this terrifying place." My stomach growled as if it disagreed.

"It's either one or the other, Hinata," he said, tapping his finger on the window in a bored manner. My stomach growled again. "Heh. I think we should stop."

"You want to get raped, be my guest. I'll just drop you off at the next stop, and you can be kidnapped by the hill people, dragged to their ramshackle home in the middle of the forest, and be sodomized by. . . candlesticks or something. I've seen the movies. I know what goes on." My voice was really high now, and I could feel my heart beating ten times faster than normal.

He didn't say anything for a very long time. The thought occurred to me that maybe he'd fallen asleep, but then he let out a small chuckle.

"Hinata."

Waiting for him to continue, I nodded once.

He said nothing.

"What, Sasuke?"

Nothing.

I glanced over at him quickly, trying not to veer off the road. He was looking out the window, a smirk on his face.

"Let's stop in the next town, get gasoline, eat, and I'll drive tonight."

_You're not my boss_, I thought, but I knew he was right. And it seemed nice of him to drive for me. . . I guess. No one's ever driven my car but me. And he's pretty much some stranger.

But I wasn't staying in any small town in the forest for longer than it takes to eat and get some fuel so I nodded my head in agreement.

By the time we reached the next stop, it was pitch black outside and Sasuke's stomach was growling, too. We got out of the car at a pizza place that seemed pretty decent, and eating there wasn't anything special. The waitress commented on how Sasuke was so young and good-looking. I rolled my eyes, enjoyed the food, and we each payed for our own half. It was sort of like going out to eat with Neji because he always, always had some waitress or waiter tell me that my dining partner was "so devastatingly handsome". Bleh, yeah sure.

I was filling up my car after we'd left there, and I heard a freaky noise coming from the dark woods near the gas station we were at. Sasuke was in the car. Not another person in sight. Looking around carefully, I noticed nothing. I went inside to pay for the gas, and as soon as I exited the inside, I heard the noise again. This time, I immediately ran to my car.

Gripping the handle on the driver's side, I flung the door open and flung myself inside.

Locking all the doors with the master lock button on my door panel, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. My eyes closed, and my hand over my heart, I leaned back, relaxing into the seat. Then I felt his eyes on me. Quickly, my head snapped toward him.

"What?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

He shrugged, deciding to pull out my case of Cds again.

"Nothing happened," I told him, my voice a pitch higher than normal.

"Hn." Flipping through my Cds again, this time more thoughtfully, he only nodded at what I was saying.

I let out a puff of air, looking out my window at the station. The woman behind the counter was staring at us through the station window. It gave me the creeps. Then she began to wave. I leaned away as if she were right in front of me. _Does she think she knows me from somewhere or something. . ?_

"My turn to drive." I heard Sasuke mumble before hearing a lock being flipped up and his door being opened. I crawled into the passenger seat like a little kid would, placing the Cd case in my lap. I slammed the door shut, re-locking it.

When Sasuke reached the driver's door, he pulled the handle in vain. I'd forgotten to unlock it. With a slight smile, I leaned over to unlock it for him. He got in while giving me a complete look of annoyance. "Give me that." He grabbed the case from me before I realized what he'd wanted.

Choosing a Cd, he tossed the case back at me before putting it in. "If I'm driving, we're going to have music. I like this band, so it'll have to do."

I put the case back, raising a question to him. "Why don't we just listen to the radio?"

"I don't feel like wasting time turning through the channels, do you?" Before I could reply, he added. "You'd be an idiot if you do, so I don't want to hear it."

Without buckling up, he started the car and pulled out of the station. I looked back once more at the woman inside behind the counter. She'd disappeared. I shuddered once again and buckled myself in. Sasuke received a long look from me. _What, does he think he's cool not wearing a seat belt or something? I don't care._ And I didn't.

Staring out the window into the night was comforting in its own way.

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**Thanks for reading this mess..**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't write this for anyone. I do it because of stress. If you like this enough, then thank my life for being annoying currently.

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I don't remember falling asleep, but waking up was a different story. One moment, I was in this palace I'd seen in one of the dramas I'm addicted to. I was a princess being forced to study ancient royal literature, secretly loving it because I was married to a handsome prince. Then suddenly I was in a car, alone, dim light showing me that it was nearly daylight, but too cloudy to see the sunrise.

The soft patter of rain comforted me at first, but then I began to wonder where exactly we were. And where had that guy gone off to?

I reached into the back to get the umbrella but it wasn't where I was sure I'd left it.

_Maybe. . . Maybe I left the umbrella at home and it's not really a problem_, I thought hopefully.

Sighing, I looked out the window, scanning the surroundings. We were at another fuel stop, but we were parked next to the station instead of at the pump so he must have went in to get something.

But I really had to use the restroom. Sighing again because of the missing umbrella, I got out of the car and ran into the station. The inside was warm and smelled like coffee. Appreciating the scent, I inhaled deeply and smiled. The bathroom was easy to locate as it was right near the entrance. Once inside, I did my business and washed my hands while checking myself in the mirror.

I pulled my rain-matted bangs out of my face and forced a smile.

"The only reason you're here is to get over yourself and enjoy life, Hinata," I said quietly, staring at my reflection. It didn't seem like me looking back at myself. The reflection was someone I knew perfectly, but it wasn't me at all.

Outside, the rain had gotten heavier. Sprinting back to the car, I hopped inside quick enough to avoid getting the upholstry soaked. Something warm touched my cheek. I jerked away to see Sasuke holding a coffee cup at me.

For a moment, I just stared at it.

"Yes, it's coffee," he said, sighing in aggrivation. "Just take it."

The warmth it emitted into the palms of my hands was enough to make my slight shivering stop. There wasn't a chance of me taking a sip of it, though. One, it was still probably scolding hot. Two, Sasuke didn't know that I preferred loads of sugar and vanilla creme in my coffee. I was also partial to strictly only Columbian.

Yeah so, I'm picky.

We were on the road again before I realized that Sasuke was totally dry while my entire upper body seemed soaked to the core. In a flash, I was leaning over my seat, trying not to spill the coffee, and looking for my umbrella.

It was right where it should be.

Slowly, I moved back into the passenger seat, staring at Sasuke.

He didn't say anything or even seem to notice.

"You," was all I said.

_Is it me, or is he really good at pretending I don't exist?_ I thought to myself after not receiving any kind of comment from him.

"You used my umbrella," I accused, still looking at him. I tried making my gaze fierce, but I'm sure it failed because once he finally looked at me, he only rolled his eyes before returning them to the road.

"Of course. It was raining."

"You didn't even ask permission." My insides were turning around in lumpy circles.

"It's an umbrella, Hinata," he stated in a way that told me to grow up. "Besides, I bought you coffee. Stop complaining, idiot."

"But that umbrella-"

"Drink your coffee."

_How. . . How dare he?_ I began feeling even more sick to the stomach, my stare becoming a glare in an instant.

My glaring didn't bother him in the least. "I spent five minutes putting seventeen sugar packets and two french vanilla creme drops into that so you better not waste it."

_Woah, that's too far. Too creepy. Too unsettling for me._

"How do you know what I like? Right down to the amount I put?" My glare became a look of confusion and suspicion. I could already feel the early pains of a huge migraine due to my constant changing emotions. So annoying.

"I've watched you make your coffee before," he replied, rolling his eyes again.

"Oh." Focusing my gaze out the window, my creeped out feeling faded into a dull background emotion. _It's still weird that he'd even watch me._ I sipped the coffee quietly, enjoying it more than I meant to. A heavy shiver went down my spine, and he looked at me.

"Eyes on the road, Sasuke," was all I said, taking another ship.

"Aren't you cold, idiot?"

_Where does this rudeness come from?_ I thought incredulously, keeping my head facing out the window next to me.

"Change before you get sick."

My head snapped toward him quick enough that I thought it'd break away from my body. "What?"

"If you keep wearing those wet clothes, you'll get a cold. I'm not taking care of you." He took a second to face the road before looking at me again. "So change."

My eyes widened, I leaned away like I had before when the old woman had waved at me. "N-no."

He sighed, finally looking away from me. "I'm not going to look, idiot. Just do it."

"So you're telling me?" I said in shock. _What is this? A demand?_

"Yes. Now hurry up."

"I'm not going to," I said, sipping my coffee.

"Give me the coffee." He reached over, holding out a hand to take it.

"No. It's my coffee, you have your own." I held it away, glaring daggers a him.

"I don't want it. You can't change unless you put it down." Trying to snatch it from me, he ended up hitting my shoulder with is hand.

"Ow." My glare hardened. "Back off. I said I wasn't changing. Are you trying to wreck us?"

He sighed heavily again, taking his hand away. "Change. Right now." His demand made me snort.

"You're a creep, Sasuke." I named him, pointing a finger at him from behind my coffee. "All this time we've went to school together and you've been watching me make coffee. Now you want me to get naked in front of you. You're a total pervert."

"Shut up. I already told you that I'm not going to take care of you if you get sick. That's why you need to change." It was his turn to glare at me, but then. . . he smirked. "Besides, why would I ever want to see you naked, Hinata? I can't imagine you'd have anything worth peeking at."

"Hmph." The scenery outside the window as things began to get brighter with the beginning of a new day became a lot more interesting than putting up with Sasuke all of a sudden.

"You're not going to listen to me?" His words floated toward me, and I wished it were possible to punch them back into his face.

"Why should I?" I retorted, keeping myself turned away. "You're not my father."

Silence filled the car like water in a swimming pool. I was drowning in it, waiting for him to say something, anything that would make me hate him more than I was already beginning to.

"You're right," he said quietly. "I'm not."

"E-exactly." _What just happened? He gave up just from that comment? He doesn't make sense._

"We'll stop at the next place we come across, and you'll change there, right?" There was some kind of hopefulness in his new quiet voice that made me agree with the nod of my head.

I drank the last of my coffee, and sat it in the cupholder. Pulling down the sun visor, I looked in the mirror at my reflection. It was a lot worse than I had thought. The parts of my hair that had dried some were sticking up in random places. Selfconsciously, I patted it down, taking a peek at Sasuke to make sure he didn't notice.

_This is embarrassing._

"Did your father know you were running away?" Sasuke asked. The way he said it made me think he'd been thinking about this question for a while.

"What?"

"You heard me. Did you tell him before you left?"

Of course, I knew better than to just leave and take all my stuff without warning him in some way. My father was one of those that had the power to find me if I had really tried to leave and plan to never come back. "I didn't tell him anything, but I left a note saying I'd come back eventually and to not try to find me."

"Why'd you run away in the first place?"

"That's my business," I said, then I hesitated for a moment. "Did you tell your parents?"

For a few minutes, he didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I told them." Was his eventual reply. "I packed all of my stuff and hugged them before I left. They wished me luck."

"That sounds nice." I silently wished that it were that easy for me. "And why did you run away from home with parents who allow such freedom?" I didn't expect an answer since I had refused to answer him.

Instead, he said, "I want to find myself."

I raised an eyebrow. "W-what do you mean?"

A thoughtful look went about his face, as if he were considering what to say before he spoke. "I want to walk past a store window or stand near a water fountain and see my reflection and think 'That's me. I've found you, Sasuke.' Then I can continue with life. That's all I need."

All the tension seemed to have left the car at that point. I allowed what he'd just said to sink in slowly, and I milled over it in my mind. It didn't make much sense to me, but I guess that was a good reason to leave home.

"How did you know I was running away on the same day?" I questioned, the thought suddenly popping into my head.

Shrugging, he replied, "I didn't. I just got lucky."

_Got lucky. . . He thinks he's lucky that we ran away on the same day. . .?_

This pervert was a lot more thoughtful than I'd imagined.

**

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Yeah.. Now, I'm hungry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So there's not much to say..**

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The hotel wasn't anything large or fancy. It was pretty nice, but I knew with the money we had, Sasuke and I could afford better. We chose one room with two beds. No, it wasn't so packed that we were forced to share a room. It's just easier and cheaper this way.

I wasn't completely comfortable with him, but I had a feeling he wouldn't try to rape me or something. I mean, if that were his goal, he'd have done it a long time ago. I grabbed two of my bags from the back seat of my car, and carried them inside, meeting Sasuke in the lobby. He had already gotten his bag while we were getting a room.

Three floors up and down a hallway, we found our room. With two queen beds, a plasma screen tv, and a desk across from the window, it was pretty average. The sight of it made me smile.

"It'll do." Sasuke tossed his bag on the closest bed before roughly taking off his shoes.

I made a sour face a him while he was turned away. "I really like it."

"You would," he snorted, allowing himself to flop onto the bed and sink into the thick blankets. I almost thought he'd smother to death.

My bed was amazingly comfortable. Better than the passenger seat of my car, I'll say that much for sure. "Would you rather be in the car, then?"

A long, drawn out sigh came from him before he rolled over, staring at the ceiling. "No, but five star hotels are much larger. This is probably the worst hotel I've been to."

I'd traveled before, and this wasn't as grand as the other places I'd stop, but it wasn't the worst. _Is he really this pampered?_ I asked myself.

The rain had stopped, but everything outside was still impeccably gloomy. Arriving at the hotel in mid afternoon ensured that I'd get a chance to take a dip in the pool. So that's exactly what I planned to do.

On the wall next to the door in the bathroom, there were four switches. Two were for the lights, one was for a vent, and another unknown one didn't seem to work at all. I flicked it back and forth a few times but nothing happened. Shrugging, I slipped into my bathing suit . Passing through the room to go downstairs, I noticed that Sasuke was asleep.

_That didn't take long_, I thought, giving him the once over.

He was kind of cute when he slept. Just saying.

The lamp next to his bed was on, though, so I switched it off before leaving. At the door, I realized I'd forgotten a towel. I crossed the room again, entering the bathroom and quickly grabbing a towel. Wrapping it around myself, I smiled at its fluffiness, and flipped my hand across the switches as I left the bathroom for the second time.

Passing through the room again, I stopped when I noticed something. The lamp on Sasuke's night stand was on again. Gazing at him, I saw he hadn't seemed to move at all because he looked the same as he had before.

_But the lamp is on. . ._ I turned it off and stared at it. It didn't do anything.

For some reason, my attention was completely caught up in this. Forgetting the pool for the moment, I wanted to know what exactly was going on with this thing. Giving the pervert on the bed one last look, I left the room. For thirty seconds, I waited outside the door, and quickly came back inside, looking at everything.

The lamp was off. Sasuke was still asleep.

"Hm." I walked aross the room, giving everything a deep observation. Nothing out of the ordinary. I went to the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the tub.

_Hinata, this is weird. Just go to the pool_. I thought, grimacing at my out of place curiosity. I sighed, flicking the light switch off in the bathroom. Then, standing in the bathroom doorway, a thought occurred to me.

I flipped the useless switch and, leaning carefully out of the doorway, my eyes fell across the lamp.

It was on.

I flipped the switch again.

The lamp was off.

_Wow_. . . I smiled, leaving the switch alone and finally leaving the hotel room for the pool. _That switch really is useless._

To so much of my luck, the pool was indoors. It sat on the bottom floor, and wasn't as crowded as I'd anticipated. I chose a lounge chair away from people to set my stuff at, and jumped in.

My school didn't have a swim team or anything like that. We barely had a baseball team as it was. Not many opportunities, if you ask me. But I had a pool in my backyard at home. And a lake down the road from my house that my family owned.

I'm not going to lie; my family is rich.

As rich as one can get after moving to a small town from a big city. It made me feel like a very big fish in an extremely small mud hole. Despite that feeling, I practically grew up in that little town and most of my senior class are some of my greatest friends. I knew I was going to miss it.

The water was freezing, so getting in was like being dumped into a tub of ice. Everyone else seemed just fine with it, so I just figured I needed a little time to get used to it. Ten minutes of swimming back and forth, though, it didn't get any warmer.

As fast as I could, I got out and enveloped myself in the towel and dried off. Lounging was just as good. Sitting in a car for a day and a half took a lot out of a person. So I lay across the chair, trying to relax some. A few guys looked my way, and I blushed slightly. The last time any guy saw me in a bathing suit was a few months ago at the new years party held at Ino's house.

The memories took over, making me smile. I wished I could go back to those days.

Ino's place was crowded. Her pool wasn't an indoor one, but it was heated perfectly. Snow covered every place except for the patio in her yard because people were too busy dancing. Most of the party were drunk and yelling, waiting for their chance to get near the person they wanted to kiss when the ball dropped. No one noticed the cold. But I definitely did. I'd spent most of my time enjoying the pool, too afraid to get out once I'd gotten in because I'd have to walk through the snow. I remember how Naruto convinced me to get out by offering a huge towel to me and hugging me close to warm me up after I'd wrapped it around myself. How he'd kiss me every time I shuddered and laughed every time I blushed.

I didn't know that that night would mark the beginning of something that I have to live with every day.

"Hey," I looked up from the lounge chair, surprised to actually be approached by one of the guys.

"H-hello," I stammered, my blush growing.

"I'm on vacation, headed toward the beach on the west coast." He sat in the chair next to mine. "My family owns a beach house there. Where are you going?"

I had nothing to say. _Where was I going?_

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," the guy said, smirking at me.

"N-no, it's fine," I said, thinking quickly for some kind of excuse. "I'm g-going to the east coast. Uh, a lighthouse. I'm traveling to my father's lighthouse."

"That sounds cool," he said smoothly. It seemed that no matter what I had said, he'd already planned on saying that lame line because no matter what I said, it'd be "cool". I realized he was a loser at that moment. "Too bad we're going in opposite directions."

Nodding quickly, I picked up my stuff and stood up, finishing our conversation with, "Y-yeah. Too bad."

Then toward the elevator I ran.

Sasuke was awake when I returned to the room. I caught him laying across his bed reading some book. He didn't even glace my way as I grabbed some things and went to the bathroom. He'd taken a shower, I could tell. Everything was perfectly neat and there wasn't a sign that a person had even been in there besides the fact that everything was fogged up. I drew a smiley face in the fog on the shower door before sliding it open and taking a shower myself.

Wiping off the mirror, I smiled at myself. It wasn't close to being real, but it was good enough to trick someone into believing I was perfectly happy. My stomache growled loudly, so I got dressed as quickly as I could.

Drying my hair as best as I could, I plopped onto my bed and picked up the phone on the night stand between our beds.

"I already ordered room service. They're bringing up some food momentarily."

Putting the phone back in the receiver, I rolled my eyes at Sasuke's dull voice.

"Do you always sound like that when your mind is in another place?" I asked, wrapping my hair in the towel I'd been holding.

"Who said my mind is in another place?" he replied, still not even glancing at me.

"You're reading, aren't you?" Standing up, I returned to the bathroom to hang the towel up. Standing in the bathroom, I had a childish idea. A small grin growing on my face, I peeked out of the bathroom at Sasuke reading. He was using the light from the lamp next to his bed. No other light was on in the room.

_That's even better_, I thought, my grin getting bigger.

Suddenly, I flicked the switch. Sasuke was covered in darkness. Without an complaint, he just turned the lamp back on, gave it a confused look, and went back to reading.

I flicked it again, and the pervert couldn't read once more. This time he sighed before turning it back on. Then his attention went back to the book.

I snickered to myself before flipping the switch back and forth a few times, watching as the lamp flickered on and off. Sasuke looked at it, annoyance written all over his face. I stopped, leaving the lamp on for a few seconds. He stared at it and when he was sure it would stop flickering, he went back to reading again.

Then I flicked it again.

"What the hell!" He yelled before getting up from the bed.

Quick as lightening, I silently shut the bathroom door and leaned against it, covering my mouth with my hand as I laughed like a little kid. That was pretty childish, but it was so fun. And to be doing it to Sasuke made it even better.

"Hinata, room service is here," came his muffled voice from the room. I instantly perked up even more.

_Messing with the pervert and now food?_ I thought excitedly.

Unexpectedly, once I was in the room, I was hit in the face with a pillow. The force was enough to almost knock me down. "Hey!" I said loudly, though it wasn't a yell.

Sasuke was sitting up in his bed, book on his lap, smirk on his face. "Think you're funny, don't you?"

I realized I'd been figured out and let a smile slide onto my face. "Yeah, it was entertaining for a few moments." Tossing the pillow back at him, I layed on my bed, deciding to flip through the channels.

Not a thing was on. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Room service!" I chirped, standing up to get the door, only to be cut off by Sasuke.

_Oh yeah?_ I slithered around him dunking under his arm as he reached for the handle. "I've got it, pervert."

"My hand's already on the door handle, idiot." He looked as annoyed as before, but that only made me smile.

"Not for long." I smacked at his hand, then grabbed his arm to pull it away from the door.

"Just let me answer it," he sighed.

"No. I got up first," I smacked his hand again.

The person on the outside knocked again, making Sasuke sigh once more.

"Coming!" I yelled. "Now let go, Sasu-chan. If you answer now, they'll think you have a girly voice."

He paused in trying to get me away from him and raised an eyebrow. "Che, why not? Let them."

_I don't get how that wouldn't bother him_, I thought, pulling at his arm with all my might.

My efforts were useless. He pushed me back toward the beds and reached for the door again. I jumped on his back, but it was too late. He'd gotten the door open first.

The room service guy stared at us. My hair must have looked crazy because I hadn't brushed it yet, and Sasuke's face was shocked from me pouncing on him.

"Newlyweds?" The guys qustioned before looking us up and down. "You look kind of young."

"Kids marry young these days," I said with a grin, leaning down and blowing on Sasuke's ear as if I adored him. _This is what he gets for opening the door when he knew I wanted to._

"Yeah, we only got married this morning." I didn't expect Sasuke to say anything. "Hopefully this dinner will be enough to seduce her into bed. She's been acting timid. Women, you know."

The guy laughed and pushed the cart into the room as Sasuke backed up, me still clinging to his back. Once the guy was gone, I slid down, the blush on my face bright, and glared at him.

"Nice one, pervert."

He snorted, looking over the food. "Two can play at any game, idiot. Like with the lamp before, you might pull a joke on me, but I'll always get you back."

_What a childish, yet fun day. _I thought, looking at the food as well. _He's turning out to be easier to get along with than I thought.

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**Thoughts are nice. I mean reviews are nice. I mean nice reviews are thoughtful. Or whatever, I don't even care if I get any. It just seems like a waste to write and not ask for some.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know. I know. This is about five weeks too late. It's a crap chapter and it rambles a lot. I apologize, I guess?**

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That night, I had a dream about being in a vineyard with this really handsome. . . shirtless guy. He kept pulling grapes off the vines and feeding them to me and singing songs about the easy life.

"You smile in your sleep," the man said. His voice sounding vaguely familiar.

I blushed horribly. He was just too good-looking, I guess.

"You laugh, too. It's kind of annoying."

My eyes flew open, staring directly at Sasuke. He wasn't even dressed yet, still without a shirt, wearing only his boxers and a pair of overly large shorts.

"I know I do," I said awkwardly as he stopped leaning over me to go to his bag. Sitting up, I stretched my arms above my head, giving a large yawn. "What makes you get me up like this anyway? We're not in a hurry."

He yawned in reaction to my yawn before saying, "Who said I wasn't in a hurry?" His clothes being thrown onto his bed as if they were nothing caught my attention. When I looked back at him, he was staring at me with a smirk.

"W-well that sucks for you, I guess." It wasn't my fault he decided to leave home with me. He had other people he could've gone with.

There are some things that I didn't mention before because it didn't seem important, but now seems like the right time to tell you. I mean, why not?

So I'm Hinata. I've lived in that same little town my entire life. Sasuke on the other hand moved here when he was very little. Before school started for any of us. Me not having any neighbors kind of ruined the kind of fun summers with neighborhood kids that I'd ever dreamed of. On the other hand, Sasuke grew up in the "Asian" neighborhood.

He grew up playing with Shikamaru, Shino, TenTen, and Lee. Oh, I'm sure they had loads of fun together as children. I've heard a lot about it from Lee, at least. All throughout high school, they've all ridden to school together in one of Shino's fancy cars. After getting to school, they'd separate from one another to be with their other friends. Sasuke, though, went off alone.

In fact, the only _real_ friend I've ever seen him have is probably Naruto, but. . . I'll talk about Naruto some other time.

Another point I'm getting at is – I am average to the extreme while Sasuke. . . Well, he. . .

While he shoved his shirt on, I openly stared at him. With his pants in his hands, he looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Idiot, don't watch me."

"Che," I muttered, averting my eyes. "You're the pervert."

Sasuke is extremely attractive. I know this is obvious from what I've said before, but. . . he's also Asian.

The real point on this one is I have a great deal of fondness for Asian men. In better terms, I think they're the most attractive type of men ever created. Sasuke knows this. Everyone knows this.

Before I trail off into mindless details any longer, I'll just simply put it this way. Firstly, I don't understand why he didn't just use Shino's car to run away. Shino has plenty to share. Second, I don't want Sasuke to take advantage of the fact that I am putty in handsome Asian mens' hands.

"Get dressed. I'm going to get breakfast."

I looked up at him, hoping his command would become a string I could snatch and use back on him. But he didn't give me a moment to demand something from him in return.

"You're a girl, so you probably don't eat much. I'll get you toast or something."

Sasuke walked to the door, and right before he opened it, I choked out, "Y-you're getting something for me, too?"

"Of course, idiot." He rolled his eyes and left the room.

_Well then, that's kind of nice_. I stared at the wall for a moment before getting dressed myself and putting everything I have back into their bags.

"Here's your toast," Sasuke said when he returned.

On the tray were two plates. One, I supposed was his, piled with random breakfast foods, and the other sitting lonely with nothing but a piece of toast.

"You. . ." I didn't know what to say. He was joking, right? "You seriously think all I'll eat is toast?"

"Well, yeah." He looked at me, then down at the tray, then back at me again. "Girls don't eat much."

"You don't know a lot about girls, do you?" I hopped up from the bed I'd been sitting on and grabbed his plate. "Not all girls are the same. This girl eats a lot. I'll be having this, thanks."

He stared me down as I sat at the desk and began to eat it all. After a few moments, I looked up at him in question. "Anything to drink?"

Shaking his head, he set the tray down on his bed and left the room while saying, "I'll get something. . . idiot."

_He gave in and let me have his food pretty easily. . ._ I thought, shoving some more in my mouth. Looking down at the plate, I suddenly felt very overweight. I took some of the food from the plate and put it with the lonely toast. That was only fair, after all. I didn't want him to starve or something. I quickly ate the rest of the food before he came back.

He returned with two large bottles of water.

"Why didn't we just get room service?" I asked, setting my plate back on the tray as he took his off of it.

"I felt like walking downstairs," was his quiet response. My generosity in sharing the food went seemingly unnoticed by him while he ate.

Less than an hour later, we were on the road again. This time I decided we'd definitely need the radio. At least I would. I don't know how much more I could take of the single CD Sasuke liked to play. It may have been mine, but I'd heard it enough. So I flipped through all the stations we were picking up around us as we drove on. I stopped on one that had caught my attention. It was playing a song by Pink Floyd. A smile crossed my face as I turned it up a little more and leaned back in my seat.

My driver gave a dramatic sigh.

Of course I ignored him. I liked it; he'd get over it.

"I don't understand your musical taste," he said over the strumming of the guitar in the song.

"You don't have to." I placed my arms under my head and closed my eyes, enjoying this minute pleasure of music.

"Right."

I giggled a little, keeping my eyes shut. "I'm always right."

He snorted. "I bet you are, idiot."

"You'd win that bet," I supplied, peeking at him with one eye and snickering.

No response came from him for a while after that. He didn't throw a fit and change the station like I thought he would, but he did keep sighing every three minutes at least.

"So why are you into this old stuff anyway?" Questioning me, he raised an eyebrow and looked at me for a moment.

"Because. . ." _Why am I?_ I thought to myself. "In simple terms, it's just because it's good."

"It's good?"

"Well, yeah. I like it. It makes me happy when I want to be cheered up and sticks with me when I'm sad and not in the mood to be happy." My eyes were wide open now. I stared out the window at the passing buildings. "It's always there."

Looking over at him, I offered a small smile. He didn't return it, fixing his eyes on the road instead. Like the many times before during our trip, silence visited us. I had a feeling it would be staying for a while. This time I was wrong.

"I know this."

Sasuke caught my attention, confusing me. "Huh?"

"The answer," he replied, though it didn't lessen my confusion much. He was pointing at the radio, his right hand off the steering wheel. "I know the answer to that question."

"What question?"

Then I actually paid attention to what the guy on the station was saying and heard him ask a question about how long a band had been together. The first person to call in with the right answer would win two tickets to the circus that was in the city near us.

Without hesitation, I snatched my cell phone from the little cubby in the front of my car that it fits perfectly into. The voice on the radio rambled off the station's number really quickly, and I didn't catch it all before it went to commercial.

My fingers poised above the keypad, I paused before looking over at Sasuke fast enough to make my neck hurt.

"Nine five nine five," he said quickly, giving me the last four digits that I'd missed.

Punching them in, I held the phone to my ear and grinned over at him. It was like he had read my mind.

"Hello caller! Do you think you have the right answer for my question?" The voice jumping out at me though the phone caused my mind to go blank.

_I don't know the answer. Why did I call? Sasuke knows. What's wrong with me?_ I thought it all though and it seemed as if I'd waited for a long time to answer before I said, "Yeah, I think I've got it."

"Okay then," the station deejay said. "Lay it on me."

"Uhm. . ." My mind was still blank. Before I could even look at the boy next to me, Sasuke had already quietly said, "Twelve, Hinata. Twelve years."

"Twelve!" was my answer.

"Whoa now, calm down." The deejay laughed. "That's the right answer! You've just won two tickets to the circus in town for tomorrow night. Where you calling from?"

"My car. . ." I started. "We're from out of town."

"We?" The deejay asked with another laugh.

"Y-yeah. . ." I looked over at Sasuke as he slowed down to park us on the side of the road. "My friend and I."

"Well, stay on and we'll have someone give you directions to the station to pick up your tickets."

"Okay."

After writing the directions down on the back of a receipt that had been in my cup holder, Sasuke and I just sat in my car on the side of the road. Neither of us said anything at first.

"So you just won us a trip to the circus," I began, not sure where I was getting to.

He faced directly forward like I was, speaking to me in a quiet, calm voice that matched mine. "I just said I knew the answer. I never said to call them."

"But you helped me with the number when I couldn't find the last digits. . ." I trailed off.

"Okay, maybe we just work really well together in split-second decisions." Neither of us knew what we were talking about. Me because I'd never won anything in my life. Not even a pair of tickets to a more than likely crappy circus. No idea why Sasuke was like that, too. Maybe he'd never won anything before. Maybe he was like me in a way that he missed out.

"That's cool."

"What?" Finally looking at me, Sasuke's gaze attracted mine.

"That's cool," I repeated. "I've never "worked well together" with anyone before."

Suddenly, this memory kept in the back of my mind reached out and grabbed me, swallowing me with this vision of myself laying across Naruto's bed in his apartment. The back of my head on his chest, we both stared up at the ceiling.

"You and I work so great together, Hinata," the blond said, intertwining my hand in his.

"Yeah?" I looked over at him because I hadn't expected him to speak. A guy had never said such a thing to me before. It was so sweet. This was the kind of "sweet little nothing" that guys were supposed to tell girls.

"Yeah," he breathed, a grin stretching across his face. "Like an ole pair of cards."

At that I giggled. "You're a dork."

"Loveable dork?" He used his free hand to poke my side.

I squealed in surprise. "Yes, loveable!"

"I love you, Hinata."

He'd never said it before that day. That warm September day.

"I've always loved you, Naruto."

Then the memory was gone. I was in my car once again. With Sasuke, about to pick up two tickets to a circus.

_Maybe we just work really well together. . ._ As he followed the directions I'd written, I thought that same sentence over and over in my mind, keeping my eyes away from the guy behind the steering wheel.

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**My friends in Japan helped me get my life back on track. Thank you, I love you, and I'll keep sending money, Sumire.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the reviews, everyone. I won't be leaving this story, don't worry. I enjoy writing this, no matter how sloppily written it is. Life is pretty good at the moment. Lots going on. It is mostly a way of letting out stress, but just because life is great doesn't mean there isn't stress, right? I'm sure you can relate in some way. Well, I'm glad you think this story is worthwhile.**

**Fyi, this was supposed to be updated a over a week ago, but the "Error 2" thing stopped it from happening until now.**

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The radio station was pretty large. A lot bigger than I expected. The one in our town was a single building barely big enough to fit maybe thirty people inside at once. This one was much bigger, I promise.

"You getting them?" I asked. My gaze stayed toward the outside, away from Sasuke.

"Che, no."

Finally looking his way, I felt like yelling, but I controlled myself. "But you got the answer right."

"No," he repeated. "_You_ got the answer right. You called in, cheating off of me."

"Pfft, I'm not going in." The building was intimidating. I didn't want to go in there. _What if I got lost?_

"You have to." His eyes met mine. "If you want the tickets, idiot."

"Well. . ." Looking away, a frown crept upon my face. "I don't care anyway. We don't have to go to a stupid circus." In the car parked to the right of us were these two girls, both giggling and looking at the building as if they were expecting it to do something awesome. One had a nose ring through her septum, the other had a loud obnoxious laugh. They both looked pretty annoying. I watched them as they stalked inside almost as if they didn't want to be seen by many people. Yeah, annoying.

And then there's silence. There seems to be a lot of it when you're with someone you're not getting along with. Especially if you're traveling with them _and_ you barely know them.

"This is ridiculous." He started the car, put it in reverse and backed out of the parking space. He drove around the parking lot, pulled out onto the road, and stopped at the first intersection without speaking again.

We just sat there. The light was red and didn't seem to be changing any time soon.

His head suddenly jerking my way, I watched him face me, giving me this look I didn't get. "You really don't want to go?"

_Of course I want to go. I've never been to a circus in my life. I'm beyond excited to have won tickets to go to a freaking circus,_ I thought. To him, I only shrugged.

Facing forward again, he gripped the steering wheel tight enough for me to be able to see his knuckles turn white. When the light turned green, we didn't go anywhere. Someone honked from behind us. I ducked my head, feeling embarrassed. We sat there until the light turned red again.

"Sasuke?" I slowly sat up, giving him a confused look.

He didn't say anything at first. And I didn't want him to.

For some reason, he looked pissed.

"So we drove all the way to that station to get the tickets and you didn't even want them?" He asked, his deep voice really low.

I felt like nothing I could say would make him go back to being calm again. So I didn't say anything. We stared at each other, him waiting for an answer that wasn't coming.

There was a tap at the window on his side of the car. The person behind us had come up to complain to us about how much a bad driver Sasuke is. We ignored them.

Sighing deeply, he drove ahead when the light turned green again, leaving the angry driver behind standing in the road. Halfway toward another intersection, Sasuke did a u-turn and headed back the way we came.

"We're getting the tickets," was all he muttered.

Hearing that made me smile. I did want the tickets. I just couldn't go into that station by myself.

"Go with me," I murmured as we entered the familiar parking lot.

"What?" He didn't look at me, but I could tell he was making a face.

"Go in with me to get the tickets."

We were parked in front of the building once again as he replied, "Fine."

Inside, we had to tell the girl in front that we were here to pick up the tickets. She gave us an extremely confused look, but told us to follow her. She led us down this hallway right up to a door.

"Please wait," she told us and stuck her head in, saying something to someone we couldn't hear.

Then a short man walked out of the room, thanking her before looking me and Sasuke up and down.

"So you came to pick up the tickets?" he questioned. By the sound of his voice, he was the deejay.

"Yeah," Sasuke supplied. I had a feeling he knew I wasn't going to speak to this guy.

"I'm sorry, but the winners have already picked up the tickets." The deejay flashed us a smile, and said, "Nice try though." right before leaving us alone in the hallway.

I didn't know whether to be completely infuriated or just sad. We walked back to my car in silence. It stayed that way until we reached the same intersection as before. Waiting on the red light to turn green, I gazed over at him.

"I really wanted those tickets," I said softly.

He nodded slightly. "Me, too."

Hesitation sat on me before I pushed it away with, "Sorry about before. . ."

"Don't apologize," He didn't look at me as we pulled forward, crossing the four-way without problems this time. As we neared another intersection, he peeked over at me briefly. "You were just too shy to go inside, right?"

I slowly nodded, adding, "Yeah, but it was kind of because the place was so big, too. . ."

Something I hadn't expected from him was laughter, but that's what I got at that moment. A few moments of hearing him laugh, really laugh, made a smile grow across my face.

Finally calm, he stated simply, "This is the first time you've ever been out of our town all on your own."

I nodded slowly again, a blush rising to my face. "W-well, yes."

He slowed the car down, "Good thing I'm here."

_Yeah. . . Good thing. . . I guess_, I thought without saying anything.

We pulled into a diner parking lot. The place was small, but it looked very busy. Sasuke parked near the entrance, putting the keys into his pocket and getting out.

"Hungry?" he asked, leaning down and looking at me from the other side of his open door.

Only nodding, I got out and followed him into the diner. People were everywhere. It seemed like there wasn't a single space left for us to sit, but a waitress greeted us and told us to go with her because she just knew there was room.

Sitting at the counter, Sasuke and I looked over the menus. That's when I heard a laugh, loud and obnoxious, ring through my ears. My head snapped toward the noise, and the first thing I laid eyes on was the duo I'd seen before. The two girls I'd seen in front of the radio station. The loud one kept laughing, while the other one, with the piercing, laughed along. They were sitting at a booth together not very far from us, talking animatedly about something I couldn't hear.

"Order something, Hinata." Sasuke shoved my arm, stealing my attention from the two annoying girls.

"I'll have what he's getting," I said without thinking about it, my attention already going back to the two at the booth only a few seats away.

Distantly, I heard Sasuke say something that sounded like he was aggravated, but I didn't pay attention until he grabbed my shoulder, squeezing it slightly. I went stiff at the contact. No one had touched me anywhere but for maybe a hug since that night at Ino's party. I shrugged his hand off, but he put it back on my shoulder.

"What are you looking at, idiot?" His line of sight followed mine, and I could see him staring at the two girls with me. I shrugged his hand off again. This time, he kept it down.

"They were at the radio station the first time we went," I said in a quiet voice, I almost wasn't sure he'd heard.

"I remember." He nodded as we continued to stare.

_He remembers?_ I thought. _I didn't even notice he saw them._

That's when the the girl with the pierced septum pulled something out of her pocket. There were two of them, whatever they were, and she handed one to the other girl. They looked like slips of paper, but were too colorful to be any regualar paper. Then I realized something that should've been obvious.

Those were our tickets.

"Those girls-!" I nearly jumped from my seat, but I was stopped by Sasuke grabbing my arm. I pulled it away from his grip, but stayed sitting none the less.

"I know," he murmered, sounding even more annoyed than before.

I finally looked at him, taking in his angry face. The same face he'd had earlier when we were at the intersection.

The two girls stood and walked to the counter to pay the bill for their food. Sasuke and I averted our gazes as they walked by us. While they headed for the exit, Sasuke grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me out of my seat.

"H-hey, wh-" I was cut off by him again. This time, he squeezed my hand before pulling me forward.

I'm not going to lie; I was concerned more about Sasuke holding my hand than I was about the tickets being stolen by those girls. He led me outside, and we followed the girls a few paces before he decided to say, "Hey!"

The two girls looked back, saw Sasuke, and stopped immediately. Of course. Who would miss a chance to talk to a random, mysterious, hot guy? Not these girls.

We caught up with them in a matter of three seconds. They were sucked into the vortex of Sasuke's angst-ridden sex appeal, which I totally didn't understand.

I thought he was cute, but I didn't think he was sexy.

The only guy I've ever thought was sexy is Lee Min Ho. That Korean god could dominate me anytime. Yeah. . . I've thought thing like this, but I would never dare tell them to anyone.

"You ladies wouldn't happen to be going to the circus tomorrow night would you?"

I looked at him when he said this. He was using this voice. . . This completely different voice. And was that. . . a _sexy_ smirk, I saw? Not the kind of smirks he gave me when he picked on me. No, this was a smirk that said, "I want you. I want you so bad." You know. . . like the Beatles song.

One of the girls looked at the other in excitement before nodding her head quickly. "Y-yeah, we're totally gonna be there."

"You going?" The other one asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a step toward him. It was like I wasn't there at all, not that I minded.

Sasuke then took on this sad look. I almost laughed. Almost. "Sadly, no. My tickets were stolen."

The piercing girl gasped exaggeratedly. "Who would do that to _you_?" The other girl nodded in agreement, both of their faces contorting in some level of astonishment.

"I don't know. Bad people. My friend and I had won them through the radio, but when we went to pick them up, they weren't there. Someone had taken them." He huffed out a heavy sigh, and I thought I could see his eyes watering. I pulled my hand up to my mouth to stop from laughing, but a few giggles escaped. His hand gently squeezed mine for a moment. I went stiff again, becoming silent once more.

After hearing his speech, the two girls looked from Sasuke to each other then back to him before one of them pulled out the tickets and slowly held them out to him. I expected her to say something like "We're sorry, we're the ones who took them. You're so sexy, we can't believe we were wrong enough to steal from someone as mystical as you."

I was half right.

"You can have our tickets." She smiled only a little, holding them out in a manner that said for him to grab them quickly because she won't offer for very long. "You're too handsome to just visit town without seeing the circus."

Snatching them into his hands, Sasuke smirked once again. "Thank you, ladies. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Then we were walking back into the diner. Away from those annoying girls, away from Sasuke's fake tears, and away from me thinking he was sexy. He pulled me right up to our seats, not letting go of my hand until we were both seated, smiling at the waitress who'd probably thought we'd walked out on our orders. Not that it was anything special that he held my hand that entire time. I notice lots of things, and that's just something I noticed about that whole scene.

"So. . ." I said, my fingers tapping the counter. "That was pretty easy."

He shrugged, putting a hand on mine to stop the tapping. "I'm pretty good at getting people to do what I want."

Quickly, I jerked my hand out from under his, and put it in my lap. Just in case he decided to touch my hand again. Pervert.

"Well." I looked down at my hands then up to him. He was looking at me like he was ready for me to say something completely idiotic. So I said, "Maybe it would have been more exciting if you had done it differently."

"Differently?" A raised eyebrow made his face look uneven.

"Yeah, differently. Like what if you had just ran out there and had been like "Those are my tickets!" and they ran? That would've been pretty cool," I continued, a small smile coming across my face.

"Yes, but then there would've been a chase, and then we'd have to fight them." He sighed, but I could tell he was toying with this dumb idea, also. "Besides, idiot, only in movies or books do stuff like that happen."

I was ready to just blow him off with a "Whatever". Instead, our food arrived, and he beat me to it, mumbling "Whatever" before eating.

I smiled. That would probably be the only day of our trip that didn't remind me of Naruto in the least bit.

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**By the way, I love everyone's guessing on the Naruto situation. They're all pretty good.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I had no intention of taking this long to update. Of course, things happen sometimes. My apologies to anyone who cares.**

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Maybe it was the heat of oncoming summer. Maybe it was the humidity hitting us in a sudden wave. Or maybe it was just me. I honestly don't know what it was. In the car, everything seemed so. . . _awkward_. Not that there was a reason to be.

We were going to a circus that night! Like I've said, I'd never been to a circus!

_It's going to be so awesome in so many ways!_ I thought.

Anyway, the car seemed really stuffy. Really awkward. Really _hot_. I glanced over at Sasuke as he drove. He kept his gaze forward. Looking away, I played with my seatbelt, pulling it away from my chest and letting it go.

Pull. . . snap.

Pull. . . snap.

Pull. . . snap.

"Stop it."

Pull. . . snap.

Pull. . . snap.

"Now."

Pull. . . snap.

Pull. . . snap.

We stopped at a red light, a huge sign advertising the circus near us on the right side of the road. Sasuke directed his attention to me. "Please, idiot. You're going to hurt yourself."

_Hurt myself?_ I thought, looking down at my seatbelt then back at him. _If anything, I'm going to hurt you if you keep bossing me around._

I didn't say anything, though. Just nodded, discontinuing my seatbelt song. Not that I thought he was right about me hurting myself. Not that I cared what he thought anyway. _Who is he to pretend to be concerned about me, anyway? _I thought, gazing out of my window at the large, red sign.

"I can't wait for this circus. It's going to be brilliant," I chirped, smiling.

"Hm." was the only response I received.

First stop, gas station.

To ease the strange heat I was feeling all morning, I looked about the little place for a freezer, hoping to find some ice cream. Oh, I was in luck. Chocolate fudge creamy goodnes is just what I needed.

"You're going to make a mess."

Sliding the lid of the ice cream freezer closed, I looked sharply at Sasuke. "What?"

"That food is messy and not good for breakfast." The passive look that came along with this comment he was giving me didn't help his argument. I shrugged, walking toward the counter to purchase the sweet.

Back in the car, I devoured the thing in record time. Sasuke, like the pervert he is, stared at me.

"Aren't we going someplace?" I asked, tossing my garbage into the rubbish bag that stays in my car.

"Yeah," he replied, looking at me a few more seconds before pulling my car back out onto the road.

I don't know what we were going to do before going to the circus. Sasuke seemed to have some kind of idea up his sleeve so I just let it go. Hopefully he isn't as boring as he comes off. Not that he comes off completely boring, he's just the kind of guy who'd rather sit and read or watch something I'd consider boring or have intellectual conversations.

I'm far from an intellectual, that is for certain.

Back at school, I was in debate club. I considered that to be an intellectual thing, but it's not like I was any good at it. I was opinionated, but quiet. It's always been like that.

"Where are we going?" I was honestly curious. Even though I had never been in this town before, Sasuke seemed to act like he knew this place as if he'd been here a million times over.

He gave me a quick peek, saying with a smirk, "You'll see."

Was he trying to be mysterious or something?

_Okay, Sasuke._ I thought._ I'll counter your mysterious (haha, mysterious. right) comments by spouting sophistries._

I was good at condjuring up sophistries; it was why they had never kicked me out of debate club.

It was either that, or my extremely good looks. _Oh, I make myself laugh sometimes._

"You better not be taking me to a building with elevators. I don't really like elevators at all. They're cramped; too much is expected to go into such a small place," I mumbled, playing with my fingernails.

I could tell he was looking at me again; didn't even have to look to know he was pulling a strange face, probably wondering where that had come from.

"You're right. Elevators are useful in many ways, but they're the lazy way to go about it."

Really, I didn't expect a reply, but this is Sasuke so he has to be different, of course.

"I'm a simple girl with simple problems-"

"And I have a simple solution."

Looking up from my nails, I glared slightly at him. I don't like being interrupted. I mean, who does? "Well, what could that be?"

"You're bored." He didn't say it like a question because it wasn't. Psh, why does he act like he knows everything?

"Of course. There's only so much excitement that comes with hanging around with you for so long."

Ignoring my verbal jab, he went on. "I'm going to take you somewhere fun. Simple problem has a simple solution."

Shrugging was all I could think to do. Talking to him was beginning to get annoying so I turned my attention to the things that passed by outside my window.

Though, I was pretty sure this conversation was over, he spoke again. "I don't know why you'd say you're a simple girl, though. You're not simple at all."

Without looking at this time, I replied, "Is that a compliment?"

"No."

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You will never, ever guess where he took me.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" I asked as I got out of my car.

I received no answer as we walked into the convenience store.

Yeah, the pervert took me to an amazing convenience store for fun.

_Whoope, Sasuke. What next, another petrol station? Maybe you'll let me pump my own fuel next time around._

"You need to learn to see and appreciate the small things," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down an aisle.

We stopped in front of a rack that held various bags of chips. "Pick one."

"Huh?" I just stared at him, completely confused. Like last time, I was much too aware of his hand holding mine. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a bag of chips that I knew I didn't like.

"These are my favorite. Now you pick. Exercise your right to choose. Appreciate that you're allowed to pick whatever you want." He spoke in an almost bored manner.

I totally got it then. "But I'm not in the mood for chips."

"Then what _do_ you want?" He seemed to like that I had responded at all to his ridiculousness. I really didn't understand why he was doing this to me. A very minute part of me had been excited about wherever he was going to take me. This little store was nothing short of a disappointment.

Sasuke followed behind me as I looked for something. He had no choice since he didn't find it nessicary to let go of my hand.

"I want this, some of these, two of this, and maybe. . . one of these," I said, picking up something each time I saw something I liked. "You're paying right?" Before he could answer, I stopped when my eyes fell on a shelf of little boxes. Boxes of things I hadn't seen in a while. Things I had almost forgotten existed.

_My breaths were bated, hands covering my face as I waited in silence. Sitting on the high bed of the nurse's office gave my legs the choise to swing freely below me, a way for me to let out some of my nervousness._

_I was so lucky the nurse was understanding and let me do things in her office. I couldn't do this at home. I don't think I could do this anywhere but in the nurse's station. Thankfully, she had other things to do so she left me to myself._

_Slowly, I brought my gaze up to the nurses's bathroom door that was across the room from myself and the bed. Suppose ten minutes was more than enough time to wait. The box said only three was enough. Hopping from the bed, I slowly entered the bathroom._

_I don't know what I was trying to accomplish by waiting for a longer period of time and in a seperate room. The outcome didn't matter in either case. The one thing I didn't want to see was staring me right in the face. If words could stare._

_Positive._

Sasuke jerked me out of my memory, pulling me away from the shelf. "Don't worry, princess, I'll pay."

Tossing the lingering memory to the back of my mind, I raised an eyebrow at him. "Princess?"

Rolling his eyes, he shrugged. "Yeah, why not? It suits you." He grabbed a bottle of some soda as best as he could with the hand that was already holding the bag of chips. We walked awkwardly to the register with our things. I nearly dropped most of what I was holding on the way.

"It hardly fits," I replied, pulling my hand from his to set everything on the counter.

Heaving a dramatic sigh while paying for everything, Sasuke muttered, "Did you have to get so much?"

"What if I starve?" I asked, my brows raised.

He grabbed the bags that held the things we - he bought, and we walked back to my car. "You're not going to starve."

"Not now that I have food, but," I repied quickly, a grin playing across my face. "I could have starved, died right here in the car, and you'd have to find a place to bury me so no one would know."

"Why wouldn't I want anyone to know?" He asked. I think he knew he was just feeding my imagination. We got back onto the road.

"They'd think you were the one who killed me." I opened one of the bags, only snacking because I wasn't really that hungry. "You'd go to prison. My father would be devistated. The world would collapse."

"Hm." I didn't have to look at him to know he was smirking. "You really do sound like a princess."

What was that I was saying earlier. Oh, right. Here comes that feeling again.

_Just awkward._

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**Well, here's what I have been too busy to work on for the past while. I can't promise this story will get any better. This is just how my crap writing happens.**


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